BNK Padel Open tournament places Kuwait on global map

Bader Al-Kharafi is flanked by padel players Ahmed Rabeaa, Aziz Mayoof and Paquito Navarro

Bader Al-Kharafi (center) and his son Nasser with Abdullah Bouftin and his sons Abdulrahman and Ahmed

Bader Al-Kharafi (center) with member of the board of Kuwait Olympic Committee Fatma Hayat, member of Padel Union Ali Hayat and Kuwaiti players Mariam Sarraj and Dana Al-Fulaij

Bader Al-Kharafi (right) and Chairperson of the women's sports committee and member of Kuwait Olympic Committee Fatma Hayat (left).

KUWAIT: BNK Padel Open finals concluded on Saturday with great success, after players who qualified played with top World Padel Tour-ranked athletes, which further elevated the sport of padel in Kuwait to unprecedented levels of global exposure. BNK Group Chairman Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi said BNK’s investment in such events has a great return for the participation of Gulf youth, affirming his company’s keenness to organize an event at an international level. He revealed BNK’s readiness for investing in any sporting event or social activity, noting that BNK Padel Open is not only a success for the company, but also for Kuwait.

Bader Al-Kharafi (right) with Former Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al-Roudan (left)

Bader Al-Kharafi and his son Nasser, MP Hani Shams and Member of the board for the Kuwait Olympic Committee Sheikh Jaber Thamer Al-Ahmad

Bader Al-Kharafi with his wife Sana Al-Naqeeb

Dr Ziyad Al-Alyan (center) and his wife Fatima Al-Awadhi (right) with Abdullah Al-Terkait (left).jpg

The finals took place at The Arena Kuwait on January 20 and 21, with the event broadcast on beIN SPORTS. The Tour-ranked players partnered and competed with GCC players, where the first-place team received two Volvo cars with a total prize of KD 103,000, the highest in the Middle East. The winners of the local tournament in the men’s category are Aziz Mayoof and Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi. Women’s category winners are Mariam Sarraj and Fatma Al-Nabhani. The local champions and those in second place played with the top-ranked athletes.

Sana Al-Naqeeb is flanked by Kuwaiti padel champions Mariam Sarraj and Dana Al-Fulaij

Bader Al-Kharafi and his wife Sana Al-Naqeeb in a group photo

Dr Ziad Al-Alyan (right) and Dana Khajah (left)

Ahmad Al-Fraih with Nasser Al-Kharafi

Kuwaiti and GCC players who participated in BNK’s tournament are Aziz Mayoof, Ahmed Rabeaa, Mohammed Abdal, Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi, Asrar Abdulmajeed, Fatma Al-Nabhani, Mariam Sarraj, and Dana Al-Fulaij. The international players are Arturo Coello, Juan Lebron, Agustin Tapia, Paquito Navarro, Marta Ortega, Paula Josemaria, Bea Gonzalez and Ariana Sanchez.

Powered by Volvo Kuwait, the event was sponsored by Gulf Cable, National Investment Company, Boubyan Bank, SVN, Huawei, Gia, BackBurner, Padel IN, Floward, DISC clinic, Arkan Al-Kuwait Real Estate and Kuwait News and Kuwait Times as a media sponsor. The World Padel Tour (WPT) is the premier professional padel tour in the world. It features top players from around the globe competing in tournaments held at various locations.